Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

December 8, 2022 at 11:29 AM
4256 replies
269779 views

We announced yesterday that some of our oldest Sonos products will be moving into a legacy mode in May of 2020. Our commitment is to support products with regular software updates for a minimum of five years after we stop selling them, and we have a track record of supporting products far longer.

Here is some public information we’ve shared, gathered into one place to respond to some of your questions in one easy thread, so that people can find the correct information easily.

Beginning in May, software updates and new features from Sonos will only be delivered to systems with only modern products.

After May, systems that include legacy products will continue to work as before - but they will no longer receive software updates or new features.

Sonos will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes, but our efforts will ultimately be limited by the lack of memory and processing power of these legacy products.

We don’t expect any immediate impact to your experience, but access to services and overall functionality will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their own services and features.

Customers with both legacy and modern products have time to decide what option is best for them. You can continue to use your whole system in legacy mode - in this case, it will stop receiving updates and new features.

You will also be able to separate your legacy products from your modern products, so that the modern products can still receive updates and new features, and legacy products can still be used separately. We’ll have more information on how to do this in May when you can take that action.

Another option available to all customers with legacy products is to take advantage of the Trade Up program, which allows you to upgrade older Sonos products to modern ones with a 30% discount. Trade Up will be open to customers at any time should they decide to upgrade.

We recognize this is new for Sonos owners, just as it is for Sonos. We are committed to help you by making options available to you to support the best decision for your home.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate with asking.

Update 2/22: A message from our CEO

We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward:

First, rest assured that come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away. Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible. While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience.

Secondly, we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalizing details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.

While we have a lot of great products and features in the pipeline, we want our customers to upgrade to our latest and greatest products when they’re excited by what the new products offer, not because they feel forced to do so. That’s the intent of the trade up program we launched for our loyal customers.

Thank you for being a Sonos customer. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust. Without you, Sonos wouldn’t exist and we’ll work harder than ever to earn your loyalty every single day.

If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Patrick Spence
CEO, Sonos

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C

cosmo35166

Enthusiast I

How convenient, not much compared to the big boys but still free money (except for taxes);

01/02/2020

Millington Nicholas
Officers

--/23

Sale

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$578,079

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79,482

chickentender

Yes. I think that’s a reasonable position/choice for sure. If you wire everything, you will not have to worry about these issues. Or you could use cheap Alexa pucks on all your speakers and have powered speakers or

I don’t think connection via Ethernet will make any difference because we rely on their software. I think most people use apps on mobile devices to operate their Sonos system. At some in the future this will cease to work with older speakers. Of course I don’t know that for sure, it’s just what I think will happen. It will probably always work on Mac/PC because older versions of the software are available.

By “wiring” I’m sure he simply meant traditional speaker wiring, and moving a centrally based system that can controlled via network, not individually networked speakers via Ethernet.

S

Sunnycor

Lyricist I

So next speaker is Play:1 its already gone from Sonos website and it’s probably the most sold speaker. Today it’s obsolete by Sonos standards and it’s only matter of moths before its garbage. I have been advocating Sonos speakers to everyone and thinking of buying more. But not anymore. I will never recommend Sonos to anyone. It’s too expensive to be a product with expire date. Bye Sonos.

C

canary

Contributor I

lack of memory and processing power

I wasn’t sure if that statement referred to our soon-to-be-obsolete Sonos products .. or to the CEO who sanctioned this utterly moronic announcement.

A

attacama40

Headliner I

The reason given for end of life is that my existing devices “do not have enough memory or processing power to sustain future innovation”.

That may be correct for some new features. I am ok with this and fully expect not to get new features.

However, it is absolute rubbish regarding supporting the existing feature set that my devices have. The majority of changes will be keeping up with any interface changes that third party services like Spotify may make. These are extremely unlikely to require any more memory or processing power than my device have. In fact, it is an almost certainty that no changes will be made that my devices cant handle.

The only reason SONOS are doing this is for cost of maintaining the software. There is no technical reasons whatsoever. It is to protect the bottom line.

As an owner of a software company myself, I know maintenance costs. Customers cannot expect support for free forever. I would consider paying an annual maintenance fee for the small amount of work to maintain existing features that would be required over a year. Why is that not an option?

I’ve been resisting making the same comment having read the same point made by others as I feel it lets the organisation off.

But I have to say, so would I.

I do not know the background or detail (and it may be confusing the discussion) but there has been discussion about creating a web based interface.

But to pay a modest fee for maintenance and keep the invested hardware live would be a way forward for me.

This would allow HW failure to be a natural phase out. And I would buy/replace with new Sonos product if this were to become a reality.

Perfect answer? No. Better than right now? I’d say so. But might not be enough for all.

A

anjrober

Enthusiast II

Old school multi room companies like Niles and crestron must be have a field day with this.

If they were smart (and clearly Sonos isn’t these days) they would offer a discount to Sonos users and a guarantee that their old school, wired, traditional solutions will always continue to work.

Especially for those hipsters using Vinyl with Sonos, a Niles or Crestron solution will work just fine. As will MP3s, CDs, and DVDs…..

K

KingPin

Enthusiast II

The reason for this is that it’s a quality product. You have been able to use it for a very long time and get a decent price for used products if you sell them. You have also been able to buy used that still works great. So now they have to force destruction of old products to increase demand for new ones. Problem is that the company’s reputation has built on the notion of it being a long term investment, and with a decent second hand price. Imagine what would happen to the price of a new Audi if they said it may not work after five years. This is exactly what they are doing now at Sonos. From investment to perishable goods. They won’t be able to keep pricing as inflated as yesterday, with lower margins as a result. This will be a long walk towards ruin.

M

mwiseman

Enthusiast II

So, so disappointing.

K

KC007

Lyricist I

We need some answers to a number of questions here:

If we choose not to upgrade and continue to use our legacy equipment, will we be able to upgrade the non-legacy equipment at some point in the future? Or is this a go no-go decision in May.
How long is the upgrade offer open? (not that I am likely to do it but some people might like to know)
What are the dates for my other SONOS items to become obsolete? Given that: Moore's Law refers to Moore's perception that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years, though the cost of computers is halved. Moore's Law states that we can expect the speed and capability of our computers to increase every couple of years, and we will pay less for them. They also go out of date quicker.

melvimbe

What did you think was Ryan meant when he said “Where possible, we will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes on the legacy devices where the computing hardware will allow. “ It sounds like you’re getting what you’re asking for.

Maybe it’s about commitment, being forthright and direct. “Where Possible” and “might not” do not provide the warm fuzzies for continued investment into the products, not for me. It’s hard to stand on the sidelines and hope the Company does what’s best in the interest of their Customers. if nothing else, this event was poorly executed and communicated. Or it was planned, maybe they want to take the stock back private by driving it down.

But Ryan and Sonos can’t predict what bug fixes will be required in the future and whether they are fixable within the available hardware. Ryan didn’t say it was a matter of making a moral decision about fixing a bug, but physical limitations.

As far as the event being poorly executed, I agree. I can think of a couple different thinks I would have done differently, but hind sight is 20.20. And I can’t see Sonos tanking their own stock in order to go private.

Danny

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